


and i'm a lionheart

by mccarthyism



Category: Marvel 616, Thor (Comics)
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2012-05-26
Updated: 2012-05-26
Packaged: 2017-11-06 01:33:54
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 752
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/413256
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/mccarthyism/pseuds/mccarthyism
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>( pre-siege ) Thor reflects on life in the calm before the storm. Luckily, he's not alone.</p>
            </blockquote>





	and i'm a lionheart

**Author's Note:**

> Takes place between Latverian Prometheus and the Sif one-shot. Written because I have a lot of feels.

This is not how he imagined their new life to be.

In the beginning it had been the idea of a fresh start - the two of them and all of Asgard living in peace as each soul was restored. Then it had been the prospect of a life without her, without a chance to even say goodbye and that he had loved her more than anything. And lastly he had not thought at all, simply wishing to save her from an early death.

Now, however, they lie on a bed too small for them at night and find trivial things to occupy them during the day. Sleep does not come easy to either of them, nor stays for long. Sif will wake in a cold sweat, chest heaving and hand closed around the hilt of her sword; he simply cannot fall asleep without Bor haunting his dreams and Asgard haunting his waking thoughts.

Thor has no doubt in his mind that Sif would have worn the mantle of royalty well - strong and proud and as unyielding as her blade - a queen as Asgard had never seen. But the crown fit his head ill and now she is nothing but in self-chosen exile by his side. And even that he cannot fully give her, called away by duties as he is.

But she still remains in a world that she does not fit into, that has no place for her.

_It's called love,_ supplies Don. _And she loves you._

Her love. Thor feels as if he as unworthy of that as he was the title of King, so long has he abused it and ignored it and chosen so many things over it. But they always fall back together, as friends in love. He does not deserve her, no - that makes her out to be a prize to be won and Sif has ever put paid to that thought - but he marvels that she can still find it within her to love him with such a steady passion after all he has done.

"Thor," and Sif's voice, her hand on his cheek, pulls him back towards the here and now. She's smiled little since he brought her back - though he cannot blame her - but a small one plays across her face now. "Your thoughts were far afield. More so as of late than ever."

That he cannot deny. "I have more with which to occupy myself." 

A pause as Sif shifts slightly; his arm comes up to wrap around her waist and pull her closer to him. Truly these beds were not made for two, let alone two of the Aesir, and falling off of them is an unavoidable risk they take. _And I'm not taking your place._ A chuckle at that, though Thor takes great care to keep it inside his head.

"You take an unfair amount of the responsibility upon your shoulders, beloved. Exiled as you are, duty is not so easily shaken." 

"What would you have me do?"

"Dwell upon it little. As hard as the task may be. You did not set my feet upon the path that led me here, nor did you command the Warriors Three to do the same."

They are changed now, in ways he cannot begin to quantify. Thor is weary where once he thought it impossible and doubt creeps into Sif's cracks where there never was a sign of weakness; Thor thinks that they are beginning to show their age. "It is not so easy." 

"No. But it suits you ill, and I would see that weight lifted from you." A fond smile this time, and he delights in it. He would see her own burden lifted - the specter of Loki hangs over her though she does not give it name. But that is her battle, and he does not know what aid to give but his presence. 

"As my lady wishes." It is not a promise that he will be successful or even try, but an acknowledgment that Sif is right. Thor finds she normally is when it comes to matters such as these, though he has not always acknowledged it in the past.

Her kiss is as much a sign of her satisfaction as anything, and in that moment Thor allows the weight to fall from him. He has Sif once again in his arms when he thought she was lost to him forever, ever forgiving and ever loving. That, in the end, is something worth having no matter the cost.

**Author's Note:**

> Title shamelessly taken from "King and Lionheart" by Of Monsters and Men. Also written because Matt Fraction can't actually write this relationship and I miss JMS' take on it.


End file.
